Feedstock conversion

The deactivation is measured by the increase of temperature that is necessary to obtain the same HDS performance for the final point as for the initial point. It has been shown that the new high loading CoMo catalyst exhibits the same level of deactivation as the conventional CoMo. The maximum deactivation obtained with a conversion feedstock after high temperature operation for more than 1,000 hours is about 1°C. 

If air is used, then a single pass with respect to each feedstock is used and no recycle to the reactor (Fig. 10.4a).-Thus the process operates at near stoichiometric feed rates to achieve high conversions. Typically, between 0.7 and 1.0 kg of vent gases are emitted per kilogram of dichloroethane produced. ... 

Petroleum wax is used in the manufacture of candles, polishes, ointments and for waterproofing purposes. Waxes are also used as a cracking feedstock for the production of 1-alkene.s for conversion to detergents. 

Comparing the overall concentrations of these different carbons designated generally as structural patterns , measured before and after a process such as FCC or hydrocracking (see Chapter 10), enables the conversion to be monitored the simple knowledge of the percentage of condensed aromatic carbon of a feedstock gives an indication of its tendency to form coke. 

Nevertheless, within the same work group, once the chromatographic procedures are established, SARA analyses are very often performed to characterize heavy feedstocks or to follow their conversion. 

A detailed study of the properties of the potential products is of prime technical and economic importance, because it allows the refiner to have a choice in selecting feedstocks for his different units for separation, transformation and conversion, to set their operating conditions, in order to satisfy the needs of the marketplace in the best ways possible. 

Feedstocks are light vacuum distillates and/or heavy ends from crude distillation or heavy vacuum distillates from other conversion processes visbreaking, coking, hydroconversion of atmospheric and vacuum residues, as well as deasphalted oils. 

In a single stage, without liquid recycle, the conversion can be optimized between 60 and 90%. The very paraffinic residue is used to make lubricant oil bases of high viscosity index in the range of 150 N to 350 N the residue can also be used as feedstock to steam cracking plants providing ethylene and propylene yields equal to those from paraffinic naphthas, or as additional feedstock to catalytic cracking units. 

In a single stage with liquid recycle, total conversion to products lighter than the feedstock is possible. The yield of kerosene plus diesel is between 70 and 73 weight %. 

In two stages with recycle to the second stage, the conversion per pass is approximately 50 wt. % and the selectivity to middle distillates is maximal 75 to 80 wt. %. However, the investment is clearly higher and is justified only when feedstocks are difficult to convert and that their content in nitrogen is high. Figure 10.11 represents two variants of the hydrocracking process. 

Its purpose is to partially convert heavy fractions highly contaminated by natural compounds such as sulfur, nitrogen, metals Ni, V, and asphaltenes and to prepare feedstocks for deeper conversion or to produce low-sulfur fuel-oil. 

The feedstocks in question are primary distillation streams and some conversion products from catalytic cracking, coking, visbreaking, and residue conversion units. 

Biedermann, J.M., J.-P. Peries and J. Bousquet (1987), SOLVAHL an attractive way to provide conversion units with high quality feedstocks . National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) paper No. AM-87-41, Annual meeting, San Antonio, TX. 

Simple conventional refining is based essentially on atmospheric distillation. The residue from the distillation constitutes heavy fuel, the quantity and qualities of which are mainly determined by the crude feedstock available without many ways to improve it. Manufacture of products like asphalt and lubricant bases requires supplementary operations, in particular separation operations and is possible only with a relatively narrow selection of crudes (crudes for lube oils, crudes for asphalts). The distillates are not normally directly usable processing must be done to improve them, either mild treatment such as hydrodesulfurization of middle distillates at low pressure, or deep treatment usually with partial conversion such as catalytic reforming. The conventional refinery thereby has rather limited flexibility and makes products the quality of which is closely linked to the nature of the crude oil used. 

If a linear mbber is used as a feedstock for the mass process (85), the mbber becomes insoluble in the mixture of monomers and SAN polymer which is formed in the reactors, and discrete mbber particles are formed. This is referred to as phase inversion since the continuous phase shifts from mbber to SAN. Grafting of some of the SAN onto the mbber particles occurs as in the emulsion process. Typically, the mass-produced mbber particles are larger (0.5 to 5 llm) than those of emulsion-based ABS (0.1 to 1 llm) and contain much larger internal occlusions of SAN polymer. The reaction recipe can include polymerization initiators, chain-transfer agents, and other additives. Diluents are sometimes used to reduce the viscosity of the monomer and polymer mixture to faciUtate processing at high conversion. The product from the reactor system is devolatilized to remove the unreacted monomers and is then pelletized. Equipment used for devolatilization includes single- and twin-screw extmders, and flash and thin film evaporators. Unreacted monomers are recovered for recycle to the reactors to improve the process yield. 

Synthetic Fuel. Solvent extraction has many appHcations in synthetic fuel technology such as the extraction of the Athabasca tar sands (qv) and Irish peat using / -pentane [109-66-0] (238) and a process for treating coal (qv) using a solvent under hydrogen (qv) (239). In the latter case, coal reacts with a minimum amount of hydrogen so that the solvent extracts valuable feedstock components before the soHd residue is burned. Solvent extraction is used in coal Hquefaction processes (240) and synthetic fuel refining (see Coal conversion processes Fuels, synthetic). 

Coal is used ia industry both as a fuel and ia much lower volume as a source of chemicals. In this respect it is like petroleum and natural gas whose consumption also is heavily dominated by fuel use. Coal was once the principal feedstock for chemical production, but ia the 1950s it became more economical to obtain most industrial chemicals from petroleum and gas. Nevertheless, certain chemicals continue to be obtained from coal by traditional routes, and an interest in coal-based chemicals has been maintained in academic and industrial research laboratories. Much of the recent activity in coal conversion has been focused on production of synthetic fuels, but significant progress also has been made on use of coal as a chemical feedstock (see Coal CONVERSION processes). 

The term feedstock in this article refers not only to coal, but also to products and coproducts of coal conversion processes used to meet the raw material needs of the chemical industry. This definition distinguishes between use of coal-derived products for fuels and for chemicals, but this distinction is somewhat arbitrary because the products involved in fuel and chemical appHcations are often identical or related by simple transformations. For example, methanol has been widely promoted and used as a component of motor fuel, but it is also used heavily in the chemical industry. Frequendy, some or all of the chemical products of a coal conversion process are not isolated but used as process fuel. This practice is common in the many coke plants that are now burning coal tar and naphtha in the ovens. 

In 1991, the relatively old and small synthetic fuel production faciHties at Sasol One began a transformation to a higher value chemical production facihty (38). This move came as a result of declining economics for synthetic fuel production from synthesis gas at this location. The new faciHties installed in this conversion will expand production of high value Arge waxes and paraffins to 123,000 t/yr in 1993. Also, a new faciHty for production of 240,00 t/yr of ammonia will be added. The complex will continue to produce ethylene and process feedstock from other Sasol plants to produce alcohols and higher phenols. 

A significant development ia trifluoromethylpyridine synthesis strategy is the use of fluoriaated aUphatic feedstocks for the ring-constmction sequence. Examples iaclude the manufacture of the herbicide dithiopyr, utilising ethyl 4,4,4-trifluoroacetoacetate [372-31-6] CF2COCH2COOC2H (436,437). 2,3-Dichloro-5-trifluoromethylpyridine [69045-84-7], a precursor to several crop-protection chemicals (see Table 15), can be prepared by conversion of l,l,l-trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane [354-58-5], CF CCl, to 2,2-dichloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropionaldehyde [82107-24-2], CF2CCI2CHO, followed by cycUzation with acrylonitrile [107-13-1] (415). 

Table 11. Biomass Feedstock Characteristics that Affect Suitability of Conversion Process...

The need to meet environmental regulations can affect processing costs. Undesirable air emissions may have to be eliminated and Hquid effluents and soHd residues treated and disposed of by incineration or/and landfilling. It is possible for biomass conversion processes that utilize waste feedstocks to combine waste disposal and treatment with energy and/or biofuel production so that credits can be taken for negative feedstock costs and tipping or receiving fees. 

Particle Size Reduction. Changes in the physical characteristics of a biomass feedstock often are requited before it can be used as a fuel. Particle size reduction (qv) is performed to prepare the material for direct fuel use, for fabrication into fuel pellets, or for a conversion process. Particle size of the biomass also is reduced to reduce its storage volume, to transport the material as a slurry or pneumatically, or to faciHtate separation of the components. 

Process Pa.ra.meters, The most notable effects ia gasifiers are those of pressure (Fig. 1) and coal character. Some initial processiag of the coal feedstock maybe requited. The type and degree of pretreatment is a function of the process and/or the type of coal (see Coal conversion processes, CLEANING AND DESULFURIZATION). 

The chemistry of the oil-to-gas conversion has been estabUshed for several decades and can be described in general terms although the primary and secondary reactions can be truly complex (5). The composition of the gases produced from a wide variety of feedstocks depends not only on the severity of cracking but often to an equal or lesser extent on the feedstock type (5,62,63). In general terms, gas heating values are on the order of 30—50 MJ/m (950-1350 Btu/fT). 

Steam Reforming. When relatively light feedstocks, eg, naphthas having ca 180°C end boiling point and limited aromatic content, are available, high nickel content catalysts can be used to simultaneously conduct a variety of near-autothermic reactions. This results in the essentiaHy complete conversions of the feedstocks to methane ... 

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